The Mystery Aboard the Alexandria
by thesilentauthor24
Summary: Nancy and Ned partner up to solve the case on the cruise liner, The Alexandria. Things escalate as the trip progresses. Will Nancy and Ned find the culprits before the end of the cruise? This is the edited version of the story I was posting earlier.
1. Chapter 1: Rest and Relaxation

I decided to go back and edit the story. This will mainly stay the same, but I'm removing some characters that were making it too hard to continue with the story and fixing some other technical issues.

It was a brisk Friday evening. Nancy was getting ready for her dinner date with Ned. Earlier that week, she had solved a murder case of a local teacher living in the next county over. Deception, jealousy, revenge, and redemption wove together to form one of the most intricate cases Nancy had seen in a long time. She looked forward to some R&R with Ned, far away from the drama of the crime world.

Just as Nancy was pulling on her boots, her phone started to ring.

"Drat!" she thought, "well maybe it's just Ned letting me know he'll be late."

Her hopes were in vain when she heard a female voice ask, "Is this Miss Drew?"

"Would you believe me if I said no?" she responded.

The lady chuckled nervously, "Oh is this not Miss Drew?"

"Sorry, it is. It's just been a really long week for me. What can I do for you?"

"Oh thank goodness! Miss Drew, my name is Eliza Lane. I work for Stonewell Cruise lines. We need your help."

"So much for my relaxation time," Nancy thought.

"Ever since we started chartering trips through the Baltic," she continued, "things have been going missing….well stolen." Ms. Lane sighed.

"What things have been taken?"

"Well it all started off with small things from the gift shop," Eliza began, "snack foods, toothpaste, that sort of thing. However, over the last few months it's been escalating. Guests have been robbed of valuables and the gift shop was hit as well. The crook took over one million dollars in jewelry."

"That's awful!" Nancy exclaimed, "Do you have any leads to who the culprits are? Do the robberies occur on every voyage?"

"They do, but we've been unable to find any leads. We have combed the manifests and there are no repeat visitors. Security has even looked at the surveillance tapes and we have nothing. "

"This sounds more like a job for the police." said Nancy.

"The captain and I have both reported the incidents and they have come to investigate, but they couldn't find anything either." Eliza stated, "That's why I called. We at Stonewell Cruise lines believe you will be able to find something that the rest of us have missed. I've called to offer you a place onboard the next trip out. Free of charge of course."

"What makes you think I'll be able to find something the police haven't?" Nancy questioned.

"We'll have you on board, under cover. That way, hopefully, no one will be suspicious of you and you will be able to do more digging than the police could." said Eliza.

"Won't it look fishy to have an eighteen year old girl on a cruise by herself?"

"You're welcome to invite any friend you'd like to join you." she responded.

Nancy pondered a moment while checking the clock. It was 5:45 and Ned was coming to pick her up at 6:00. Finally, Nancy let out a sigh.

"Alright, what's the plan?" she said finally.

"You and your friend must pack anything you may need and come to the New River Heights Pier to board the ship. Oh and Nancy? Choose your companion wisely. It seems like these robbers are getting more bold and this job won't be easy." said Eliza.

"What makes you say that?"

"There was a note stuck to the captain's door this morning. It was stuck there with a knife and said 'If anyone dares to stand in our way, there will be consequences.'"

"Eh, I've had scarier." Nancy retorted. "I'll be ready with my friend. Anything else you think I should know about the case?"

"That's about all. Be at the dock by 8:30 sharp with everything you'll need. Until then, Nancy Drew." Eliza said and hung up the phone.

Nancy glanced at her clock. It read 5:55. "Drat," she thought, "not much time left and I still have to finish getting ready."

Like a whirlwind, Nancy finished getting ready for her date. During her prep, she pondered who she should ask to come with her on the case.

Before she knew it, the doorbell rang. At the same moment, she realized who exactly the best person to come with her on the case would be.


	2. Chapter 2: Shattered

Nancy yanked open the door to her boyfriend. With a smile probably a little too big, she asked Ned to come in.

"Hey Nance," said Ned, "You look extra happy to see me."

"Do I?" she said slyly, "maybe I'm just really excited for our date."

Ned had seen this look before, usually around anniversaries and holidays. "What are you hiding, Nancy?"

"You'll just have to wait and see. It's a surprise! Ready to go?"

Recognizing that he wasn't going to be able to get much more out of the detective at this point, he said, "Yup, I have a new place for us to try tonight." Ned took Nancy's hand and walked her to the car. As they travelled to the restaurant, Nancy planned just how she would ask Ned for his help.

Once Ned parked the car, he hopped out to get Nancy's door for her. True, Nancy was capable of getting her own door, but she appreciated gestures like this every once and a while.

"So…" Ned said, "what's the surprise?'

Nancy laughed, "Oh Ned, I'll tell you when the time is right! Just be patient."

"Alright, fine" the tall football player relented as the couple made their way into the restaurant.

After a short wait, ordering, the typical conversation about how each other's day went, and the arrival of the food, Nancy decided it was time to ask.

"Ned, I didn't quite tell you everything that happened today." Nancy began.

"Let me guess. You're finally going to tell me what's going on?"

"I figure you've been patient enough. So a lady called up with a new case."

Ned interrupted, "Didn't you just get off a case a few days ago?"

"Yes, but let me finish! Anyways, I guess there have been a string of robberies on this cruise liner and the company wants me to join the next voyage and investigate. They've already had the police come, but they couldn't find anything."

"So of course they figured they'd call the famous Nancy Drew." Ned said matter-of-factly.

She chuckled, knowing that Ned was trying to get a rise out of her, so she played along. "Oh of course! I have to leave tomorrow and I'll be gone for as long as the investigation needs me."

Ned looked disappointed momentarily and then bounced back. "That's great, Nan. I am excited to hear all about it. Of course, you can always call on me if you run into any roadblocks."

Nancy smiled. "Well the representative from the cruise liner, Eliza, said I could invite a friend along with me to help with the case and with my alibi."

"Well that's good. Two heads are better than one, but how are you going to decide between George and Bess? Someone will end up pretty upset."

"Actually, I didn't plan on inviting either of them. I had someone much better in mind." said Nancy.

"Really?" Ned looked perplexed. "Does that mean you'll ask Helen or Emily to go with you?

"Nope. I have someone even better in mind."

"Frank and Joe?"

"No! You silly." Nancy revealed.

"Me? I have no experience in this type of thing. I'm not really detective material Nancy. You should take someone who will be more valuable to the investigation. I would just get in the way."

"Are you kidding me?! Ned how many times have you helped me on a case in one way or another? I would say close to a hundred. You have experience in spades! Ned, I want you to come, but if you don't just say so." Nancy said with a sigh.

"We leave tomorrow?" he asked finally.

"Yes. Does that mean you're coming?" she asked hopefully.

"Nancy, what on earth am I supposed to bring on something like this?" Ned questioned.

"Well, clothes would be a good start." Nancy teased.

"I'm being serious, Nancy." Ned smiled. "I just don't want to slow you down by not bringing the right thing."

"There's not a specific list of things to bring, but I know you can wear regular clothes most of the time and there are a few shows and one of the restaurants requires you to dress up a bit more. A suit would work great. Other than that, go with your instincts." said Nancy.

"My instincts, huh? Well I guess I can do that. We leave tomorrow?"

"Yes at 8:30 in the morning."

"I guess this kind of puts the kibosh on our date then." Ned concluded.

"What do you mean?" Nancy questioned.

"Well, we need to make sure we are completely prepared for this. That'll take some time. I don't want to forget anything important. What if we ended up going the entire trip without floss?"

"Floss?"

"Yep. They could serve corn or spinach one night. Some might get in somebody's teeth and then you or I may be doomed." Ned said dramatically.

Nancy stared at Ned until he finally burst out laughing. She realized that he was just trying to get her goat and she laughed along with him.

"You're so goofy, Ned. Not bringing a tooth brush would be much more traumatic." she said, playing along.

"That's true. Well we better finish up and get packing for tomorrow."

The couple finished their meal and headed home. Nancy gave Ned a quick goodnight peck on the cheek and went inside.

She rustled out her trusty luggage and began filling it with the bare necessities that would get her through the case. A few minutes into her packing, she received a text that read: "Nancy thanks for asking me to come with you. Don't forget your toothbrush. Love Ned"

She smiled at her phone and her heart skipped a beat. As corny as it may have sounded, Nancy knew that no matter what trouble she faced in this case, Ned would have her back.

Nancy crawled into bed after double checking her alarm and texting Ned back that she was excited to have him come with. She turned off the lamp by her bed and buried herself deep in the covers.

Nancy was just about to drift off when she was jolted awake by the sound of glass shattering. She reached for her lamp and turned it on. Lying in a pile of glass shards was a brick! Nancy ran to the window just in time to see a red van drive off, but she was too far away to get a license plate. Then she turned to see what damage had been done. She carefully avoided the glass and picked up the brick, which had something tied to it with string. It took a few minutes, but Nancy managed to untie the complex knot and release the paper someone obviously wanted her to see.

Nancy put the brick down on her desk and turned on her small desk lamp. She unfolded the paper and read: "If you interfere with our operation, there will be consequences!"

Well, nothing makes an investigation quite like a threatening note." Nancy mused aloud, "Although it's creepy, I've had scarier. Whoever you are, you're going to have to try a lot harder than this to scare me away!"


	3. Chapter 3: Breakfast

A loud knock at the bedroom door made Nancy jump. Before she could, the door burst open. Her father's blurry-eyed form filled the doorway.

"Nancy! Are you alright?!" Carson asked.

"Yeah. Someone just decided to send me a lovely note before I went to bed."

Carson looked confused for a second and then his eyes focused on the pile of glass on the floor. "Are you kidding me?" he shouted, "that's the 5th time this month! Why do these people always have to break our windows? Why can't they just leave threatening notes in the mail box like normal people? Or just send an email?"

"Probably because the people that send us the notes aren't exactly normal, dad. It also had a bit more impact than an email would." said Nancy.

"Touché. I should have invested in window insurance when I had the chance. It sure would have saved us money on all these broken windows."

Nancy chuckled. "You're probably right, dad. So should I call the police or are you going to?"

"Since I am the man of the house, I guess it's my job. Toss me the phone."

Nancy smiled and tossed the phone to her dad. While Carson called, Nancy went down to the kitchen to get a broom and dustpan to clean up the glass.

As they waited for police to arrive, Nancy and Carson worked on cleaning up the mess.

Eventually, the police came and went. The broken window was expertly broken up by Carson and Chief McGinnis. At this point, it was 2:00 am. Nancy got resettled into bed. Even though Nancy considered herself an independent woman and didn't like to rely on others, at that moment, she was now even more thankful that Ned was coming on the trip with her. "Better safe than sorry," the young detective thought as she finally drifted off to sleep.

Six o' clock came much too early. Nancy groggily reached for her cell phone to turn off the alarm. She hopped out of bed and began to get ready. Forty minutes later she bounded down the stairs with her luggage and went into the kitchen. The smell of blueberry muffins and bacon wafted throughout the house.

"Good morning, Hannah!" Nancy said as she sat down at the table. Carson was across the way, reading the morning paper and drinking a mug of coffee.

"Morning, Nancy. Did you sleep alright after all of the hullabaloo?" asked Hannah.

"Oh about as well as you can expect, thanks for asking. Dad, how did you sleep?"

"I didn't," Carson grunted, "I was still pretty furious about what happened, as well as a bit scared. I mean, what if the rock throwers came back and tried to take you?"

Nancy was a bit taken aback. It's not often her tough lawyer of a father admitted to being afraid. To lighten the mood, she responded, "I guess in that case I will finally have a use for the self-defense classes you made take."

Carson cracked a smile. "I guess that's true, but you can't blame a father for worrying about his daughter, right?"

"I guess so."

Hannah finished setting out the meal and the next few minutes were filled with the clatter of dishes.

"So, what's your new case about, Nancy?" Carson asked in between bites of muffin.

"There have been a string of robberies aboard a luxury cruise ship. The police haven't found anything and the company thinks I may be able to discover something. I'm to spend some time aboard investigating."

Hannah said, "That sounds like quite the adventure! Stay safe, dear."

Carson stayed quiet for a moment and then said, "They want to send an eighteen year old on a cruise? I don't know how I feel about you going on a cruise by yourself."

"Well they did say I could bring someone along," Nancy said, "so I decided to invite Ned." Nancy braced herself for what was coming next.

"Well kiddo, while I may not agree with your decision on some levels," Carson said "but it does give me some comfort that you're bringing him with you instead of George or Bess."

That caught Nancy off guard. "Are you serious?"

"Yep. Call me old fashioned. Call me sexist. Whatever. But, there is something comforting about knowing you'll have Ned with you. He does care about you, even I can tell. I know he'll take care of you out there."

"Oh, dad…."

"Don't 'oh, dad' me young lady. I know you're a very capable, intelligent girl; however, I still worry about you and, knowing you'll have old reliable Ned with you puts me at ease in some ways." he said sternly.

"You're right, dad. Ned and I will have each other's backs on this one. I'll be okay."

At that moment, the doorbell rang throughout the house.

"Speak of the devil!" said Carson with a smile.

Nancy went off to let Ned in. Ned wore jeans and an Emerson T-shirt. He bent down to give Nancy a hug.

"Ready to go?" Ned asked.

"Not quite. Come in and I'll grab the rest of my things. Did you eat breakfast?"

"Yeah, but how can I pass up Hannah's muffins?"

Nancy smiled and gave Ned a peck on the cheek. She turned and ran up the stairs to get her bags.

"Need any help?" Ned called up the stairs.

"No, I'm on my way down." Nancy shouted back.

Before long, Nancy was coming down the stairs with her bags. Unfortunately, Nancy missed a step and fell the rest of the way down the stairs. Nancy collided into Ned with a loud crash.

"Are you alright?" Nancy worriedly asked.

There was a long pause. Finally, Ned said, "Wow, you've really fallen for me haven't you?"

"Oh Ned! That was really cheesy" groaned Nancy.

"You know you liked it." said Ned with a smile.

"Are you two okay?" Carson called.

"Yeah dad." Nancy answered.

"Nancy just decided to pack bricks for this investigation and thought she could carry them downstairs by herself."

Nancy playfully slapped Ned on the arm. In response, Ned grabbed her in another hug. Then they helped each other up.

"Are you two ready to go?" Carson asked as he walked into the front room.

"Anymore bricks to bring down?" asked Ned teasingly.

"Ha ha very funny. Yes this is it and we're ready to go. "said Nancy.

"Alright. Be safe and be careful. Young man, I am trusting you to keep an eye on Nancy." Carson said.

"I know sir."

"If anything happens to her, I will come after you."

"I expect nothing less, sir."

"Okay. Well travel safe and take these guys down." said Carson.

"Thanks dad! Bye!" Nancy said and hugged her father.

"Sorry, Ned. That was kind of embarrassing." she said as they buckled up.

"Your dad just cares about you, that's all. He wants to make sure you'll be okay. I'd probably say the same thing if I was in his shoes."

Nancy grinned and asked, "Really?"

"Yup. Now let's get going. We don't want to be late for our big adventure."


	4. Chapter 4

The couple made it to the pier just in time. Ned pulled into the parking lot and found the last parking spot. As Ned turned off the car, Nancy turned to him and asked, "Are you ready?"

"To be honest, I'm not. But, I'll always be there for you Nancy, no matter what."

"Thanks, Ned. I'm happy you're on board with this."

"Nancy, that wasn't very punny." he responded with a smirk.

"Oh Ned!" Nancy said as she opened the door.

They climbed out of the car and retrieved their luggage from the trunk. In the distance, a gigantic cruise ship loomed in the distance. The name Alexandria was written in golden, cursive letters. Nancy and Ned walked up to a long, metal dock where someone was waiting.

"Good morning!" The gentleman enthusiastically said. "Are you ready to check in?"

The man looked to be in his 50s. He wore light gray slacks with a blue shirt and tie. His nametag read "Matthew Storm, assistant cruise director.

"Yes, sir." Nancy and Ned said and the same time.

Matthew laughed. "Did you practice that? Just kidding, it happens more often than you'd think. What name will you be under?"

"Nancy Drew." said Nancy.

The man looked down at his clipboard momentarily. Finally, he looked up. "You're on the list; however, I have a note here that you two are to meet with Eliza Lane, our cruise director, as soon as possible." Matthew paused and looked Nancy and Ned over as if he were trying to read into their souls. After several moments, he finally whispered, "I can't say much, but I really hope that you can help us out. You're our last hope."

With the last bit, he said much louder, "Anyways, here are your luggage tags and your room keys. After you finish attaching the tags, leave them with me. Miss Lane will be greeting guests on the Lido deck, so be sure to stop by and introduce yourselves."

They left the heat of the day and entered the cool darkness of the ship. They got lost a couple times, but eventually they made it to the deck. The crowd of people was thick. It seemed like everyone was looking at the same thing.

Ned asked a nearby crew member, "What's going on?"

"There's been another theft. Someone stole the diamond pieces off the big chandelier just inside."

"Why is everyone out here?" Nancy asked.

The man grunted, "The thieves left a note written in broken glass. Go see for yourselves."

Nancy and Ned exchanged a look. Ten minutes on board and something had already happened. They tried to push through the crowd, but they didn't make much progress.

"What do we do now?"

Nancy looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you are the expert here, Nancy. We can't get to the scene of the crime, so what now?"

"Normally, I would just talk to everyone to see what happened, but I kind of want to see the note first. After that, we can start knocking on doors and asking questions."

"Aren't we supposed to be undercover? Wouldn't knocking on a bunch of people's doors draw a bit too much attention to us?"

Nancy pondered Ned's words for a moment. Usually she would question suspects and find a moment to…peak through their things for clues. Before she had a response, a frazzled-looking brunette tapped on her shoulder.

"Miss Drew, I am so glad you're here!"

"Do I know you?"

"Oh right! Sorry, we spoke on the phone. I'm Eliza Lane. Can we talk in my office?" She paused, "Who's this?"

Before Nancy could respond, Ned held out and said, "I'm Ned Nickerson, Nancy's assistant with this investigation."

The two shook hands. "The more, the merrier. We need all the help we can get."

Eliza shepherded the team into her office. It was a bit cramped and bare, but it was clean and smelled decent. They all took a seat.

"There has been a development in the case. Did you happen to see the note left on the Lido deck?"

"We were unable to make it due to the crowd. What did it say?" asked Nancy.

Eliza turned to her computer and said, "I can do better than that. I can show you."

A couple minutes later, Eliza turned her screen so that Nancy and Ned could see the message formed in the glass. It read, "Ye had been warned. Soon ye shall pay."

"Looks like you have pirates." Ned said.

"Did you find any finger prints or DNA on the glass?" asked Nancy.

"We're not sure about the pirates; however, the investigators didn't find any prints or DNA on the glass."

"So where do we go from here?" Ned asked.

"We have a suite set up for you two to stay in. We'd like you guys to lay low during your investigation, so as to not upset the guests and to, hopefully, keep the thieves unawares that we are after them."

"How do you suggest we do that?" asked Nancy.

"Be guests. That's what we do. We do the activities, we mingle, and we build relationships that will help us find our guys." Ned said.

"Exactly, Mr. Nickerson."

"Just Ned is fine."

"Ned, then." said Eliza, "By being intermixed with the regular passengers, we hope that you'll be able to find the culprit or culprits who have been robbing us." said Eliza.

"So what exactly was stolen and from who?" asked Ned. "That will probably help us find a pattern, right?" He looked at the others.

"It started off with small things from the gift shop…I believe that was about three months ago." She paused to think a moment. "Yes, three months sounds about right. Then the scale of the thefts grew larger. Various pieces of jewelry and Faberge eggs have been taken."

"Along with the diamond pieces off the chandelier." Nancy added.

"Precisely. There have also been thefts of belongings from passengers. Watches and cash mainly; however, necklaces, Kindles, and iPhones have been reported as stolen as well."

Nancy said, "Eliza, where would you like us all to start?"

"Well since you're passengers, you'll need to have the customary tour of the ship. The cruise staff in the blue uniforms takes care of that and they are on the Promenade. Then you'll probably want to see your rooms and it'll be up to you where you go from there."

Nancy looked over at Ned. His face was unreadable for the most part, but at another glance, Nancy could tell he was lost in thought. After a moment, Ned caught Nancy staring, smiled, and asked, "Something on my face?"

"No. I'll tell you later." Nancy turned back to Eliza and said, "Thanks for your information. Will we be able to find you here if we have questions or need to update you?"

"Sometimes, yes; however, during dinner and performances I will be in attendance, so you may have to come find me. Enjoy the tour!"

Nancy and Ned said their goodbyes and went in search of a tour guide. "So are you going to tell me why you were staring earlier?" Ned asked.

"You seemed like you had something on your mind and I was curious what it was."

"That you're cute."

"Oh, really? That's it?" Nancy said dubiously.

"What if I said yes?"

"Then I'd say you need more interesting thoughts than that."

Ned laughed and put up his hands in. "Okay, I was thinking the case too. You said that they couldn't find anything on the manifest to lead them to a suspect. That they haven't had any repeat passengers, right?"

"Something like that, what's your point?"

"Well maybe the robbers are crew members. They would have the most opportunity."

"They already investigated the crew. No leads, Ned. But you do have a valid point. We'll have to make sure to target the crew as well in our investigation."

"People do lie. Someone could be hiding something."

"In this line of work, it's best to assume that everyone is hiding something."

Nancy and Ned joined a group that was about to start a tour. While they didn't talk much during the tour, Nancy and Ned were silently noting the atmosphere of the ship and the different interactions of all the people that they came across. Eventually, the tour worked its way to its final destination: the gift shop.

The gift shop was rather large and had a number of different sections. The section closest to the front had snack foods, medicine, and other odds and ends one may forget on their trip. The next section was different knick-knacks like souvenir plates and ornaments of the ship. After that came the small art gallery of relatively unknown artists, except for a piece that hung on the wall.

"A Beckendorf painting?! Those are so rare!" one lady said enthusiastically. "I love his work. I've never seen this one before, but I recognize the style."

"Excellent eye, miss." said our tour guide, Bianca." Mr. Stonewell, our founder, inherited the painting a few years back. He thought this would be a great place for it to hang; however, it is not for sale."

"Not many people could afford it anyways. They can range anywhere in the hundred million range."

"With the robbery that happened earlier, is it really safe right here?" asked Ned.

"Quite safe, actually. Mr. Stonewell has the best security money can buy and more protecting this piece. No one would be foolish enough to go after this one. Anyway, we have just one more section to explore. The jewelry shop."

Just then, a woman in a tailored suit and spectacles came around the corner. Following her was a thin, frazzled man that looked like he was about to lose his breakfast.

"Everyone," Bianca announced, "this is Amelia Landen and her assistant, Matthew James. Amelia is the head jeweler for Stonewell Cruises."

"Brittney! Where is Eliza? I need to speak to her immediately about the security on my shop." said Amelia.

"I'm Bianca, ma'am." Bianca said sadly. "The last time I saw Eliza, she was in her office."

"Well go and get her!"

"But ma'am! I'm still giving a tour."

"Matthew! Stay here and finish up the tour. Bryn go and find Eliza." With that order, Amelia marched right out of the gift shop."

"That was pleasant." Nancy said under her breath.

"I'm sorry about that. Amelia really is pleasant once you get to know her." said Bianca. "Oh who am I kidding? She is a nightmare to everyone. You just sort of expect it after a while. Right, Matthew?"

Matthew groaned and turned a lovely shade of green. "Sorry, Bianca. I think I ate something spoiled at breakfast this morning. You better hurry. You know how Amelia gets when you make her wait."

"Here take these. It'll make you feel better." Bianca handed Matthew something. "Good luck! Bye!" Bianca strolled out of the gift shop.

Matthew led the group into the jewelry section of the gift shop. The portion of the room was filled with glass cases containing dozens of jewelry pieces with a sprinkling of watches and Faberge eggs. Matthew started stumbling his way to what appeared to be the main desk when he fell over. Ned went over to him and helped him up.

"This may be a crazy idea, but how about you sit down over here and we just look around for a bit? If we have any questions, we can ask you and in the meantime you can get some rest." Ned said as he led the assistant to a chair.

"That may be for the best. Just let me know if you have any questions."

"Here." Nancy said as she handed Matthew a small package. "I took these from the dining area earlier. They're crackers. Eating them may help with your stomach."

Matthew mumbled a thank you and proceeded to open the package. Nancy and Ned turned to the rest of the room. A few elderly ladies had begun examining various necklaces in one corner, while others were carefully examining pocket watches in the glass case on the opposite end of the room.

"What do you think about the painting?" Ned asked. "Think it may be a target for the thieves?"

"Something that valuable? I wouldn't be surprised. Should we walk around a bit?"

Ned nodded and began walking toward the pocket watches. Nancy headed to the Faberge eggs.

As she made her way over to the display case, her foot collided with an object on the floor. Nancy looked down to see that there was a wallet on the floor. She bent over and picked it up. As Nancy began opening the wallet, the lights began to flicker dramatically.

Everyone looked around to see if someone had done it by mistake, but there was no sign of anyone near the light controls. All of a sudden, the light went out completely. Someone shrieked and an ice cold wind blew through the gift shop. In the next moment, something or somebody hit Nancy over the head and Nancy collapsed to the floor.


	5. Chapter 5: Blood

The darkness was overwhelming. One lady screamed and there was a grunt accompanied by the sound of shattering glass from the opposite side of the room. Part of Ned hoped that the noise wasn't Nancy, but he knew that it was most likely Nancy. Either way, he had to find her. He rummaged in his pocket for his keys. Nancy had given him a keychain flashlight a few weeks ago. He fumbled the keys a moment and clicked the flashlight on. Ned did a quick sweep of the room. The flashlight beam landed on a dark form on the opposite side of the room. His heart sunk as he made his way closer and realized that the form was Nancy.

"Someone call for help! There's someone knocked out."

He bent over Nancy. There was a small, dark pool of blood by her head that was steadily growing. Thinking fast, he pulled off his shirt, folded it up, and pressed it against the wound. He quickly checked and saw that Nancy was still breathing.

An elderly gentleman made his way over. "Is the young lady alright?"

"I think so. She's still breathing and she has a big cut on her forehead."

"That doesn't really sound like 'alright' to me young man." the gentleman said sternly. "My friend is trying to find the medic onboard. Do you mind if I take a look? I used to be a paramedic for the army."

"Okay." Ned moved aside and revealed the cut. The bleeding was beginning to slow. The cut ran from the top of her head and ended at her eyebrow.

"Jumping Jehoshaphat! That is one mighty fine cut. I wonder what exactly happened."

Ned looked around and noticed a broken display case. "I wonder if she got hit somehow and fell into this glass case. Do you see any glass in the cut, Mister…?"

"Albert Farnsworth's the name. The cut looks pretty clean, but let's wait for the medic and more light before we make the final verdict. Put the compress back on the cut. We don't want her losing too much blood."

Ned put the shirt back against the cut. He and Albert chatted a few more moments. Suddenly, the lights came back on. A few people cheered. Ned surveyed the room and didn't see much missing.

"Is everyone alright?" Matthew staggered back into view. His skin looked more human than it had earlier.

"We're okay!" one lady exclaimed.

"Fine."

Albert spoke out, "There's a young lady here that has cut her head and was knocked out. Someone was looking for help, but we've no idea if he succeeded."

Matthew spotted Nancy on the floor and promptly turned six shades of green. "I'll…uh…call on the…radio." Matthew moved towards a chair and pulled out a small black walkie-talkie.

"He seems to really enjoy blood, doesn't he?" said Ned.

Albert smiled. "Not everyone is cut out for the medical field. Help will come quickly though."

Just then, Nancy's eyes fluttered open. She groaned and tried to get up, which made her groan more. "What happened?"

"Take it easy, Nance. Someone or something hit you when the lights went out. You fell back and hit your head on a display case. You got quite the cut."

"Young lady, your friend here has taken excellent care of you. You're in good hands. said Albert.

"Thank you, sir. Right before the blackout, I had picked up a stray wallet. Do either of you see where it went?"

"I didn't see it."

"Neither did I. Do you think that's why the lights went out? Maybe whoever did it wanted to get the wallet back."

"That's just what I was thinking. Too bad I didn't get the chance to take a look inside before it was taken." sad Nancy.

A young lady, maybe a few years older than Nancy and Ned, came into the room. She had bushy black hair and wore a white lab coat. The lady paused and looked around the room. When she spotted her patient, she marched right on over.

"My name is Alena Snow. I'm the doctor on board. How's the patient doing?"

"I'm okay. I'm mostly sore and apparently bloody."

"Well, let's take a look."

Dr. Snow took out some latex gloves and pushed back Nancy's hair in order to get a closer look at the cut. She spent a couple minutes examining the injury and then reached for her medical bag.

"Unfortunately Miss, this cut is deep and you're going to need stitches. Fortunately, you didn't hit much harder. I have everything I need right here."

"How many stitches will I need?"

"Ten or so. I'll clean this up for you and you can be on your way."

The doctor began working. Ned held Nancy's hand through the process, even though he had to look away for a moment to give his head the chance to stop spinning. It reminded him why he decided against studying anything medically related at Emerson.

"All done! You should be fine except for a nice headache. Take a few aspirin with your lunch and you'll be alright. I would like to see you again in the evening to make sure that you're healing up nicely." Dr. Snow gathered up her supplies, bid the group a goodbye, and walked out of the gift shop.

"Well, Miss. I know you're in great hands now. Feel better." Albert went to join his group.

"You know, one would think after all of my adventures and the numerous injuries that I'd be used to stitches and blood. I'm not. That was still rough." Nancy groaned a little.

"Right there with you, Nancy. How about we get cleaned up and go get something to eat?"

"But I was just attacked! We should be investigating." She paused for a moment. "Where's your shirt?" Nancy blushed.

Ned held up the blood covered shirt. "It came in handy. Another reason why I want to get cleaned up. It might make people uncomfortable to see someone walking around shirtless somewhere besides a swimming pool."

"Good point. Help me up?"

They got up and began heading for the exit. About a foot away from the exit, Nancy paused.

"Ned, what does that look like?" She pointed.

"Like someone did a bad job moping?"

They made their way closer. On the floor was a trail of muddy footprints.

"These must have come from whoever attacked me!"

"How on earth do you know that?"

"Because I was looking around when we came in and they weren't there before."

"Way to go, Sherlock. What should we do now?"

"Take a picture, I guess and try to figure out about how big they are. We can save the information for later."

Nancy pulled a small digital camera out of her purse and took a few shots at different angles. Then she pulled out a small notebook.

"Let's see, how can we measure the footprints?"

"You don't have a measuring tape? I thought you were always prepared? What do you do on a case if you need something like that?"

"I...well…find what I need and take it for a while. Then I return it before anyone knows it's gone."

"Nancy, that sounds like stealing."

"No! I always return it. It's more like borrowing…without asking."

"So, stealing."

"Okay, okay. So how are we going to measure these?"

Ned thought for a moment. "What if I put my foot next to the prints and we use it as a reference? It won't be exact, but we'll have a pretty good idea of about how big the feet are."

"Good idea. Get ready."

Nancy pulled her camera out again as Ned situated his foot next to the footprint. She snapped the picture. Ned's foot was about a size or so larger than the footprint.

"Thanks, Ned. Should we find out rooms?"

"Yep, I'm starting to get cold."

The pair headed into one of the many hallways in the boat. After a few minutes, they were lost.

"Maybe we should ask for directions."

"If we find someone to ask, then we'll ask."

After a few more turns, they found Bianca.

"Hi you two! How are ya feeling?"

"I'm alright, but I would like to change. Can you help us find our rooms?"

"Sure! What room are you?"

"84."

"Oh fancy! Right this way to our luxury suites."

Bianca led them to their room in a manner of minutes. A golden 84 stood out against the royal blue door.

"There's only one room, but there are two of us." Ned stated.

"It only looks this way. Behind the room is a living area with two separate bedrooms. You're staying in one of the best suites on the boat."

"Thanks a bunch Bianca." Nancy said.

"Anytime! Let me know if there's anything else I can help you with."

Nancy found her key and unlocked the suite. It opened to a nice sized room with light blue couches, a small fridge, beige carpet, and a large TV. Their luggage sat in the middle of the room.

"Holy cow! This place is cool. They really treat their detectives pretty well."

Nancy smiled. "Not all the time. I've stayed in some stinky places before. But I will admit its fun when the rooms are this nice. Let's get cleaned up."

The two separated into the opposite rooms. Nancy hefted her luggage onto the bed. It was a plush, queen-sized bed, with a bedspread that matched the front door. She took a deep breath and smelled cinnamon in the air. Nancy slipped into the bathroom and looked herself over in the mirror.

"Yikes! I look like death." she thought aloud. "I have my work cut out for me."

The young detective's hair was matted with blood. A deep purple bruise was growing along the path the cut had taken. She took care scrubbing the blood out. After some time, she was a lot cleaner and felt marginally better. Nancy had thrown on a pair of Bermuda shorts and a dark purple top. She went back into the main room and heard something strange. It was Ned.

Nancy smiled. Ned was fast asleep.

"Ned, wake up." she shook him gently.

Ned was still out cold. Nancy tried shaking him harder and harder. Finally, Nancy pushed him off the couch.

Ned got up slowly. "What on earth did you do that for?"

"I was trying to wake you up. Nothing was working so I decided to push you off the couch to see if that helped."

"Did you forget that you're injured? You shouldn't be exerting yourself like that."

"But, it's time for lunch."

"Oh yeah, can't miss lunch."

Ned hopped up off the floor. "Shall we go?"

Nancy took Ned's hand and they made their way off to the dining room.


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks to those of you who have commented. I appreciate the feedback!

* * *

"Hey, Ned? I have something we need to take care of before we get to the dining hall."

"What's up?"

"Well, it will sound fishy if we don't have our cover settled ahead of time if someone asks about us. So we should decide on a story now so we're ready."

"We can pretend to be engaged."

"Like anyone would believe that! We're teenagers. That's a bad idea, Ned…" Nancy paused and looked at Ned. He was trying very hard not to laugh.

"You're joking."

"Yup. I agree no one would buy that."

"We could be reviewers. Like reviewing the cruise line for a magazine."

Ned put his hands on his hips. "Hmmm. It does sound interesting, but how about we say we're bloggers about travel."

"Why not a magazine?"

"Seems safer, plus you never know what connections people have. Doing a blog will have fewer risks."

"What should we call the blog?" Nancy paused. "How about College Travels and Expeditions?"

"I like it. Don't think I'll remember it, but I like it."

"I have your back. Shall we go?"

"Yes. I'm so hungry I can eat a zebra."

"Alright, let's go."

Nancy and Ned found the dining area faster than they had found their rooms. They had found a map in their suite and once they made it to the Promenade part of the ship, there were signs pointing to different parts of the boat.

The dining area actually consisted of several different options. The first, and largest, was a buffet style selection. The next was a burger and pizza place by the pool. The final three were different restaurants that appeared to require suit and tie to enter.

"Ah too many choices! Anything speaking to you, my little foodie?" Ned asked.

Nancy sighed. Not many people knew this about Nancy, but she is passionate about food. Nancy reflected on all the times she made Ned watch Chopped and Iron Chef and was slightly regretting it.

"What are your thoughts, Ned? I know I get excited about food, but some input is nice."

Ned began walking to the first part of the buffet. "How about this? We go through the entire buffet, except dessert, and if something looks good, get it. Don't think just try it."

"You're in an adventurous mood tonight. Usually when we go out, you order from the same 3 choices."

"It's not often that I'm on a cruise with not only my best friend, but my girlfriend. I think it's time I be adventurous and follow my nose. Plus I am too hungry to be picky."

Nancy handed Ned a plate." I like your plan. How about we start over there and work our way over?"

Ned nodded and the two began walking through the line. The smell of the food was making Nancy's mouth water. Moments later, Nancy and Ned were making their way to a table. The table overlooked part of the ocean and they could see in the distance for miles. Groups of all sorts were scattered throughout the hall. There were a handful of couples about the same age as Nancy and Ned. The dominant presence in the hall came from several elderly groups. Here and there were families of all shapes and sizes, which meant that there were a few kids running around screaming at the top of their lungs.

"Almost makes you want to never have kids, huh?" said Ned.

Nancy shrugged. "We're way too young to be even thinking about that right now. The parents are trying their best."

'That's true. This is a good spot! Great for the sight and scoping out possible suspects."

Nancy agreed and the couple began to eat. The buffet area had dishes from all over the world, so it was hard to decide where to start first. A little while into their lunch, a deep voice said, "May we join you?"

Nancy and Ned looked up to see a couple a few years older than them. They both were blonde and were built like triathletes. Ned answered, "Sure! I'm Ned and this is Nancy."

The young lady said, "I'm Samantha and this is Matthew. Thanks for letting us sit with you guys. This place really fills up at lunchtime, huh?"

Nancy looked around and noticed how full the area was. There were even groups standing around waiting for tables to free up. "Whoa! We've only been here a few minutes and it wasn't nearly this packed when we came in. So, what brings you two on this cruise?"

"Have you heard about Amelia Landen being on this cruise? She's a world famous jeweler and she agreed to design and make my engagement ring!" said Samantha

"Samantha has been a fan of Ms. Landen forever. It's not cheap, mind you, but it's what she wants. How about you two?"

"We're reviewing the cruise for our blog, 'College Travels and Expeditions."

"How long have you been on the blogging circuit?"

"Not long." Ned said. "We've done mainly small trips, like to National Parks, but we decided to try going bigger. We thought this trip would help put our blog out there for more readers."

"Nice! We'll have to look it up later and see what you think. We can use that for trips later on. "Matthew said.

The conversation broke off between the couples. Ned and Matthew were talking sports and Nancy and Samantha were talking books. Near the end of the meal, there was a blood curdling scream from a few tables away. The four turned to see a scene they wouldn't forget. There was an elderly gentleman slumped and shaking on the table. He was foaming at the mouth. A white-haired lady flung herself on top of him and was sobbing and screaming for help.

Ned and Nancy ran to where the couple was and Samantha and Matthew followed close behind. Nancy yelled, "Someone call the doctor!"

Matthew ran and as he passed, he said, "I'm on it, Nancy."

"I recognize this guy." Ned said, "He helped us out in the gift shop when you blacked out. His name's Albert."

"Ma'am! You have to get off him if we're going to save him." Nancy shook the lady's arm."

The lady looked at Nancy with wide, puffy eyes. She nodded and moved away, visibly shaken.

"Ned, can you still take a pulse? From when you worked as a lifeguard?"

"Way ahead of you." Ned began finding the pulse.

A crowd was beginning to form. Finally, Dr. Snow managed to push through the crowd and joined Nancy and Ned. Before beginning her diagnosis, she turned and yelled at the crowd to go away if they weren't going to help. The people stared at her a moment and then began walking off. Dr. Snow turned back to the patient and began working.

"How come none of the staff are over here?" she asked.

"I don't know. We were the only ones to get close." Nancy said.

Dr. Snow scowled and dug through her bag. "That's not right. They're trained for emergencies like this. I'm reporting this to HR when this is over. This man could've died."

"Can you save him?" asked Ned.

Dr. Snow found what she was searching for: a large epi pen. She uncapped it and gave it to Albert. His symptoms quickly began to calm down. "He had an allergic reaction to something he ate. A very severe one, but an allergic reaction at that."

"What's he allergic to?" Nancy helped the doctor up.

"Clams, tree nuts, and gluten. I remember because he called me right before the voyage to make sure I was equipped with the proper supplies just in case." Two men in blue scrubs arrived

"We're ready to take the patient now." one said to Dr. Snow.

"Take him to the infirmary. I will check on him soon. Nancy, Ned, thanks so much for your help."

Ned asked, "Can we visit him later? We'd like to make sure he's alright."

"That's very thoughtful young man. Actually, come after dinner. He should be right as rain by then."

Dr. Snow helped the lady up. She had calmed down since the doctor had come. The small group left the dining area. Nancy went to the table where Albert was eating earlier. She looked at it carefully and called Ned over. "What do you see, Ned?"

"A good meal gone to waste?"

"Look closer."

"Chicken, some rice, and broccoli. I don't understand…wait what did Dr. Snow say he was allergic to?"

"Clams, tree nuts, and gluten."

"Which isn't on that plate."

"So what does this mean?"

"It means that someone just tried to kill Albert."


	7. Chapter 7

Ned looked shocked. "But, why? That doesn't really make sense Nancy. Who would want to kill him? He seems so harmless."

"Well, what do you know about him?"

"Not much really. We met when you were knocked out."

"Exactly. There has to be more to Albert than meets the eye. We should question him. Let's go!"

Nancy charged off. Before she got too far, Ned grabbed her arm and gently pulled her back. Ned was new to all of this, but he wanted to be careful and avoid unneeded attention.

"Remember Nancy, he did just have some sort of an attack. He still may be unconscious…"

Nancy cut him off, "and it may look suspicious if we hurry away too soon."

"What do you think we should do?"

"Let's meet back up with Samantha and Matthew. If we check in with them, maybe we can get some clues that we may have missed."

"Not sure I completely understand, but I'll follow your lead."

Nancy and Ned wandered around for a few moments before finding Samantha and Matthew talking to a few workers. Samantha's eyes were puffy and they could see a pulsing vein in Matthew's neck. Neither of them could quite make out what was being said, but it sounded like Matthew was angry. By the time Nancy and Ned reached the other couple, the workers were leaving. Matthew kicked a nearby chair and then winced.

"What's wrong?" Ned asked.

Samantha sobbed and turned away. Matthew said, "We were trying to ask those guys why they weren't helping with the man over there. They said it was 'not in their pay grade to help customers who choose to overeat' and that I 'don't understand the difficulties of working aboard a cruise ship.'"

"That's ridiculous! It's called being a decent human being! There is no excuse not to help out." Samantha said as she threw her hands up in the air. "They were so rude about it too."

Nancy placed her hands on her hips. Ned could tell that she was coming up with a plan of action. He knew that look in her eyes all too well.

Finally, Nancy spoke up. "There must be more to the story. They should have at least called down to the infirmary and gotten help."

"Well, not much we can do in hindsight. I agree that they should have done something, but we can't change the past." Ned said.

Matthew didn't look so sure. "I think someone needs to report this to their boss. That kind of response makes me feel unsafe on this boat."

"You two should definitely put this in your blog!" Samantha added.

"You're right. Ned and I will have to write this down so we capture the event accurately. How about you and Matthew find who to report this to? We can make sure everything is alright here and go check on Albert."

"We can meet up later for dinner and report back to each other if you'd like." Ned said.

Samantha and Matthew agreed. It was decided that the couples would meet up again at 6:30 to eat and catch each other up to date. As the other couple set off to find the person in charge of the dining area, Nancy grabbed Ned's hand and charged off to their suite. Ned admired his girlfriend's firm grip on his hand, although after a couple minutes, he started to lose feeling. When they reached their suite door, Nancy wrenched it open, pushed Ned inside, and quickly shut the door.

"You're sure eager to get me all alone."

Nancy grinned. "Sorry, Ned. Business before pleasure. I wanted to talk to you in private."

"Oh darn. Here I was just hoping that you were just dying to kiss me and all you want to do is talk shop." Ned said in a teasing voice.

Nancy gave Ned a peck to pacify him. "Don't make me regret taking you on this trip Nickerson. We can't have distractions."

"But teasing you is so much fun." He wrapped an arm around Nancy and pulled her in for a hug.

Nancy relented and took a moment to enjoy the warmth of her boyfriend. Resting her head against his chest, she took several deep breaths and took the chance to gather her thoughts before proceeding.

"Nance, are you alright?" Ned looked down at her.

She gently pushed away. "Yeah, it's nice to give myself some distance during a case, even if it's just for a few minutes. Usually it's a whirlwind and "Nancy do this, Nancy do that, Nancy why are you over here, Nancy you're going to die.' This is a nice change of pace, plus I have my best friend by my side."

"Well we've only been on the boat a few hours. There's still time for all of that, except I'd prefer to avoid the whole 'you're going to die' thing. I'm a little young for that."

Nancy chuckled. "It's a job risk, love. Criminals don't always appreciate their plans getting ruined. Anyways, where do you think we should start?"

"Let's go check on Albert. Maybe he has an idea of what happened."

"Sounds like a plan. Let me grab my notebook and we can go."

Nancy slipped into her room and picked up her pocket sized notebook. She glanced at her camera that Ned had gotten her for her birthday. Thinking it may come in handy, she slipped it into her other pocket. Nancy and Ned left soon after that and made their way to the infirmary with some difficulty. As they stepped up to the door, they heard a series of shouts.

"What do you mean you lost it? How does anyone lose something that valuable? It doesn't just get up and walk away!"

"I left it in the safe for transport."

"Well, have your detective look into it! Our contacts will be furious if the drop isn't made."

"She's a smart one. She'll catch on."

"Take care of that then. Give her just what she needs to know. Take her out if you need to. Good bye."

Nancy and Ned realized that whoever was in there yelling was about to catch them eavesdropping. They both turned around and scooted down the hall. Once they had reached some distance away, they turned around to see who was leaving the infirmary. It was Eliza Lane! The young woman looked up and down the hall before hurrying away in the opposite direction from where Nancy and Ned were hiding.

"What do you make of this?" Nancy asked.

"From the sound of the voices, she was one of the people that was shouting just now. But which one? It was kind of muffled."

"Let's give it another minute or so and then go in. Just in case someone else comes out."

The pair waited several minutes but no one else came out. Who else was talking? Who made those threats? Nancy and Ned rounded the corner and knocked on the infirmary door. Dr. Snow opened the door.

"Hi you two. What can I help you with?"

"We were wondering if we could talk to Albert and see if he was doing well.' Nancy gestured inside. "Can we come in?"

"But, we understand if he isn't available right now." Ned added quickly. Nancy shot Ned a look, but didn't say anything.

"Come on in. He actually just woke up."

Ned and Nancy made their way into the bright room. The smell of latex was overwhelming and the room was chilly. Albert was sitting up and looking at what seemed to be a magazine. He looked up as the pair approached and smiled weakly. "Well this is a pleasant surprise! How are the two of you? How are you feeling miss? Is your head doing okay?"

Nancy responded, "It still aches a bit, but I think I'm doing much better. Thanks!"

"We actually came to see how you're doing, Albert." Ned said.

"That is mighty kind of you two! Well I think I'm fairing right as rain, but I still feel pretty weak. If it wasn't for you guys going to get the doctor, I would've been toast."

"We're happy we could help."

Nancy asked, "So what exactly happened? Why did you react like that?"

Albert paused and looked at Ned and Nancy. His eyes seemed to be reading into their very souls. After some time, he finally said, "Well you two, I have absolutely no idea for sure. The doctor says I had a severe allergic reaction to something on the plate, but I didn't grab any food that I am allergic to."

"Do you think your food could have touched something you're allergic to? Contaminated it?" asked Ned.

"I suppose it is possible, but I was promised that the chefs and kitchen staff are careful and trained to make sure guests don't have trouble with allergic reactions."

"Albert, how come you picked this cruise? Are you here just to relax or are you here for something else?" Nancy asked.

Albert sighed. "A bit of both actually. My wife and I are celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary."

"Wow! You look really good for being at your 50th anniversary." Ned interjected.

"Thank you, young man. Anyways, I am also working with the jeweler on board to create a present for my wife. It's a surprise."

"Oh that's so sweet! How is your wife doing by the way?" asked Nancy.

"She's a bit of a wreck, but she'll be better off once I'm out of here."

Just then, Dr. Snow walked in. "Sorry everyone, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Albert needs to rest after that reaction."

"Oh psh! You make me sound old."

"You're 74."

"Oh well, fine." Turning to Nancy and Ned, "Thank you both for stopping by. I appreciate you taking time out of your vacation to see an old man."

Nancy and Ned said their goodbyes and made their way back to their rooms. They each took a couch and began to go over the conversation with Albert.

"What do you think?" Ned asked.

"I don't know. I wish we had more to go on. There isn't really any motive to go after Albert. I guess it could have all been an accident. An unlucky coincidence."

"Or?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh come on, Nancy. I know you well enough to know you have something on your mind."

"Well, I was just wishing we could get into security and look at their footage of the dining area. That way we could rule anything out for sure."

"It's getting late and we're supposed to meet up with Samantha and Matthew to see what they found out. "

"Good idea. I am starving. Shall we go?"

"Darn. I guess eating requires me to get up, huh? Just when I was getting comfortable."

Before Nancy could respond, a loud siren started going off followed by an announcement. "All passengers get their life jackets and report to the lifeboat nearest your location."


	8. The Farnsworth Five

The sirens rang throughout the entire ship. Nancy and Ned snagged their lifejackets and met a flood of people in the hallway. Elbows were flying everywhere as people pushed to find spots to stand. It didn't take long before the couple was waiting next to a lifeboat. Nearby, two older ladies were talking animatedly.

"Helen, guess what I heard? Do you remember that one thief we saw that TV special? The one that allegedly robbed the Metropolitan library and all those other places?"

"Yes. Why?"

"I heard that he is on this ship!"

"The leader of the Farnsworth Five is here? Wasn't he arrested a long time ago?"

"He was never proven to be involved with the thefts, so he never went to jail."

"If he's onboard, I bet he's the one stealing everything!"

"That's what I think too, Helen. We better keep a weather eye out so we don't become victims."

Nancy and Ned exchanged looks. Nancy tapped one of the ladies on her shoulder. The lady turned around, startled. "Can I help you, dear?"

"Sorry, but we couldn't help overhearing what you and your friend were talking about. What can you tell us about the Farnsworth Five?" asked Nancy.

"Oh! The Farnsworth Five was a group of crooks back about 50 years ago. They usually worked together, but Farnsworth, their leader, went solo a few times. His biggest score came from the Louvre! Can you believe that?"

Ned smiled. "It is pretty impressive. What happened to them?"

Helen took over the story. "They say that the group had one major job, their final job they called it. After that, they parted ways. Nobody knows why or what happened to them."

At that moment, the sirens stopped and a man's voice came over the speakers. "Thank you all so much for your cooperation in this drill. You may return to your activities. Enjoy your trip!"

"It was good to talk to you two. We're going to get something to eat. If we don't eat something soon, Gertrude might faint." Helen said.

"Thanks for your help, ladies. We'll see you both around." said Nancy.

They waved goodbye and joined the crowd of people heading back inside. Ned and Nancy were silent until they were back in their rooms. Ned threw his lifejacket inside the closet and flopped down on one of the couches. Nancy put her lifejacket away in the other closet and curled up next to Ned on the couch, laying her head on his chest. Ned pulled her in close. She shivered against Ned and looked up at him.

"So what do you think about the Farnsworth Five?" asked Nancy.

"Sounds like quite the group. Very reminiscent of Ocean's Eleven. Do you think Farnsworth is really on board?"

"Could be. At least now we have a lead to go off of. How do you think Samantha and Matthew are doing?"

"Beats me. Probably not as cozy we are."

"Oh Ned. Should we see if they are at dinner?"

"Yeah, I'm starving. All this detective work makes a guy hungry."

Nancy chuckled. "Okay let's go."

The duo got up and made their way to the dining hall. They tried searching for the other couple, but there was no sign of them. The dining area was full of families and there were kids running around. Finally, Nancy and Ned decided it would be easier to find them if they just stayed in one place and let Samantha and Matthew come to them.

It was about 7:00 when the couple finished eating. There was still no sign of the other couple. Nancy was starting to worry. Ned was trying to put Nancy's mind at ease when in the hall, he noticed several security guards run past.

"Hey Nancy, did you just see those guards?"

"Guards? Where?"

"Just outside in the hallway. Wonder what happened?"

"Well we could just sit around waiting to find out….or…."

Ned finished Nancy's thought, "or we go and see what's going on for ourselves."

"Could be dangerous." Nancy smiled.

"With you, it always is." sighed Ned. "Let's go."

Nancy and Ned made their way calmly to the hallway. They barely made it in time to see the guards hurrying along the corridor off to the right. Maintaining their distance, Nancy and Ned tailed the guards.

It seemed like an eternity later when the guards finally stopped. There was just enough room for the duo to see the scene. There was a strong smell that permeated the area. Blood was all over , mainly on the floor. Nancy looked a little farther and saw Samantha and Matthew, both lying on the floor, covered in blood.

"Call the infirmary quick!" yelled one solider.

Another solider called out, "Call the coast guard. We have to stop this boat."

Eliza strode in from the opposite end of the hallway. "There will be no need to do any of this. Let's get this cleaned up. No one say anything. I already have people on board looking into whatever is going on. We're keeping this under wraps."

"Are you kidding me? Ma'am, we need to take this ship into port and catch these guys." said one of the soldiers.

"If you do that, I will have your badge. Now see this gets taken care of." Eliza stormed back from the way she came.

Luckily, nobody caught Ned and Nancy, who were hiding around the corner. They approached the two bodies and tried to see if there were any clues to be found. Nancy noticed something right next to Matthew. In blood, he had written the words "Mrs. Farnsworth."

"Ned, what do you make of this?"

Ned read the writing. "Well, if I were dying and knew who killed me, I would want to name my killer. Or if I didn't know the killer, I would want to point investigators towards whoever could help find the killer."

"Just my thinking. Since we don't know if the Farnsworth from the Farnsworth Five was married, should we talk to the only other Farnsworth we know about on-board?"

"Sounds like a plan. Let's hurry before we're found here."

The couple made sure they didn't leave anything important behind and snuck back up the hall. They remembered that Albert had said they were staying in room 34, so they made their way to the third floor. Moments later, they arrived at the blue door with a bright number 34 on it. Nancy knocked loudly. Two minutes later, an elderly lady opened the door and looked over the detectives.

Sighing, she said, "I was wondering when someone was going to come talk to me. Come in."


	9. Chapter 9

"How did you know we were coming?" Ned asked.

"With all the hullabaloo going on with these robberies and now that couple dying? I had a feeling someone would point fingers at Albert, especially after the documentary about the Farnsworth Five was aired. Now, come in and we will talk." The lady waved them inside.

Nancy and Ned followed Mrs. Farnsworth inside. Her suite had a sitting room area similar to the one they had in their suite, except all of the furniture was a deep red color. The smell of muffins wafted through the air. Ned was eying them with a hungry look, which the lady picked up on.

She smiled. "Grab a muffin and come sit down. I still need to introduce myself. My name is Beatrice Farnsworth, but I go by Betty for short."

"I'm Nancy. Nancy Drew, and this is my boyfriend, Ned Nickerson."

"Ah I knew you looked familiar, Miss Drew. I've followed your cases for quite some time now. You are a remarkable young woman. I hope you can help me help my husband."

"How does Albert need our help?" asked Ned as he helped himself to a muffin.

"I fear with his past that he will be blamed for everything going on this ship. I need you to find out who is and point suspicion away from Albert."

"How do we know you're not just trying to help him get away with robbing the ship?" Nancy questioned. "How can we trust you?"

"Nancy…go easy." Ned mumbled.

"It's alright. It does look a bit shady, I will admit. My husband is a known criminal so it makes sense that he is a suspect." Betty admitted. "Let's make a deal. You two hear our story, the whole story, and then I'll let you judge. If you believe me, you'll work to make sure Albert doesn't get blamed. If you don't, you can just go on your way. What do you think?"

Ned and Nancy exchanged a look and Ned shrugged. After a moment, Nancy answered, "What could it hurt?"

Betty clapped her hands and exclaimed, "Excellent! Where should I begin?"

"How about with how you two met?" Ned offered.

"Yeah start from the beginning. That's always best."

"Very well…let's see. My parents and I were attending a gala at the Metropolitan Library. He had asked me to dance and we ended up glued to each other the entire night. His father was the curator of the library. Albert showed me a few secret passages during the event, too. We had so much fun that night." Betty looked lost in her memories for a moment.

"There are secret passages?" asked Nancy, "Where?" Nancy was thinking of her previous case there and she couldn't remember finding any secret passages.

"Oh yes, but I promised him I would never reveal their locations. It's also been many years and things have probably moved around since then."

"How did he become a thief, then? How did he go from curator's son to the head of a crime ring? " Nancy asked.

"His father brought him in."

"His father brought him in…like in the mafia?" Ned was shocked.

"Exactly. His father had been smuggling artifacts to different fences that would turn them over to buyers. He used the library as his cover. Albert was in line to take over." Betty said as she ate her muffin.

"So how did you end up with him?" Nancy questioned.

"Well he swore he would never join his father. Albert was an archaeologist and said he had no interest in the smuggling ring. Once we were married, everything changed. Archaeologists didn't make much money and me teaching didn't bring in much money, so things were tight. Albert felt pressured to provide a nice living for us."

"So he turned to a life of crime?"

"Not quite. His father and his men never liked that Albert wasn't going to take over, but his father accepted it. However, his men didn't. Mr. Farnsworth was well liked and the men received big cuts from the jobs, or so I was told, and they figured Albert would be the same way."

"Why risk a different boss, when the one they had was known for generosity." said Ned.

"Exactly. So the men had decided that they needed to force Albert to join in."

"How'd they do that?"

"They kidnapped me."

"They kidnapped you? That sounds like something ripped from a TV show or something." Nancy said skeptically.

"If it hadn't of happened to me, I would have agreed with you. But it did. I was walking home one night, when all of a sudden there was a van following me. I tried to run, but the men were faster. They bundled me up and took me to the museum. Then they called Albert and told them that if he didn't do a job with them, they were going to kill me."

"Did he believe them?"

"Not at first, but then they made him believe." Betty rolled up the sleeves of her outfit. Each arm had a long, puckered scar along it. "They cut me so he could hear me scream. Poor Albert didn't know what to do, so he joined them. Stole some ankh from another museum from what I remembered."

"So how did your husband become a criminal? Seems to me like he was forced into it." Ned commented.

"Well…after the first time, Albert seemed to like the thrill of it all. And he was good at it too. He just seemed to have a gift for stealing, but he didn't want to work with the men that put me in harm's way. So, we packed up and moved to Chicago. I thought we were getting away from that life, but Albert had put together a crew and they became some of the biggest criminals Chicago had seen. I didn't know because they always kept things quiet. It was years until Albert confessed to me. "

"That's a lot to drop on someone. What did you do?" asked Nancy.

"Just stood by and kept loving him. It helped that he said he was going straight. He had done one last job I guess and decided enough was enough. He's spent the last years trying to use what he took for good."

"You stayed with him?! But, why?"

"Dear girl, I could begin to try to explain it to you but you wouldn't understand it. I barely understand it myself. Love does funny things to a person. That's why Albert can't be behind all of this. He told me he stopped and he always keeps his word. Plus, he's much too old to be running around like that. Bad arthritis you know."

"Then why would Matthew and Samantha say to come here?" Ned wondered.

"Oh that young couple? They wanted to know the same things you did, but on the way here they told me they heard two people talking about another theft. They couldn't recognize one of the voices, but they were sure they heard that nervous fellow that's always following the jeweler."

"Matt!" Nancy and Ned said at once.

"I suppose so. They said they were going to security to see the video and try to find out who was there for sure."

"Then that's what we'll do too." Nancy stood up. "Thanks so much, Betty."

Ned got up to follow as well. "Don't worry, we'll figure out what's going on."

The older lady smiled. "Thank you both for coming. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help."


	10. Chapter 10

p class="MsoNormal"Nancy and Ned made their way to the security office. Before entering, Ned pulled Nancy aside./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Nancy, what's the plan? Do you think they'll let just a couple of teenagers look at security tape?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal""Well if they don't, we'll go to Eliza and get her to help us."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"With that, the couple went inside. The room was large and full of monitors. Three guards were viewing them when Ned and Nancy entered./p  
p class="MsoNormal""What can we do for you?" the guard in the center called over his shoulder./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Nancy spoke up. "We need to look over the security videos for the last few hours. We're specifically looking for places where the jeweler's assistant has been."/p  
p class="MsoNormal""Why is that any of your business? You got a warrant?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"Nancy didn't expect push back. "We believe he may have a connection to the robberies and the murders onboard."/p  
p class="MsoNormal""Got any proof?" another guard turned around to look at them./p  
p class="MsoNormal""No." Ned admitted, "and we don't have a warrant or anything. But, we were hired by Eliza to look into what has been going on and this is our only lead. We'd really appreciate the help guys."/p  
p class="MsoNormal""What could it hurt?" the third guard said to the others./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Alright. The worse that could happen is you don't find anything. I don't like going to work knowing someone might be killed." The first guard began typing and pulled up videos from the last several hours./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Keep an eye out for Matt and anything that looks out of the ordinary." said Nancy./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Five pairs of eyes scanned the videos. It took forty minutes, but finally Ned shouted, "Stop the video."/p  
p class="MsoNormal""What did you find?" Nancy asked./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Rewind and slow it down….there! Matt is meeting with someone, but I'm not sure who it is."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"Matt and a familiar lady were on one of the screens. She was shouting at him. Then it hit Nancy. "That's Eliza! What are they saying?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"One of the guards turned up the volume./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Are you kidding me?" Eliza smacked Matt on the side of the head. "What's so hard to understand? We'll pull into port at 1 am, you'll pass off the goods, and get the money. In and out and nobody's the wiser but we'll be richer."/p  
p class="MsoNormal""I think my boss suspects something." Matt said and braced himself for another smack./p  
p class="MsoNormal""I'll deal with her. You just worry about doing your job!" Eliza said emphatically. She stomped off in one direction and Matt wandered off. The guard restored the video to real time./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Nancy turned to Ned. "That doesn't make any sense. Why would Eliza hire us when she's the culprit?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal""Throw suspicion off her? She's not very smart?" Ned offered./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Well we have to catch them in the act. We can't let this continue." Nancy said. "Thanks gentlemen! Can we count on you all to keep this quiet?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal""Yes, miss. We want all of these crimes to end just as much as you." said one guard./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Take them down. We'll watch from here and have back up ready for you two." another guard added./p  
p class="MsoNormal""We'll alert the police at our next stop and tell them what's going on." the final guard said./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Thanks, guys." Ned said. "Let's go, Nancy."/p 


	11. Chapter 11

Nancy and Ned made their way back to their suite. As Nancy entered, she kicked off her shoes and promptly collapsed on the couch.

"I better set my phone alarm if we're going to lie down. We wouldn't want to miss out on the meeting. This may be our one chance to catch these guys." said Ned.

"Good idea, Ned. So what do you make of all this?"

"It's definitely a lot to take in. It's nice to see exactly what you go through on these cases. I feel like I understand you more. With the meeting, I'll admit I'm nervous, but I have to believe everything is going to work out for us in the long run."

"Well not all cases are alike, but I'm glad you have a better idea. So, what are you nervous about?"

Ned joined Nancy on the couch and sighed. "Nan, you saw what these guys did to Samantha and Matthew. I worry about you when you're on these cases and I'm worried about what could happen tonight. You could get hurt or worse and what if I can't protect you? I know I'm probably worrying too much, but that's where I'm at."

Nancy sighed. "Oh Ned, I'll be fine. I do this all the time. I'd just worry about you. It's a lot to handle. Are you sure you are up for this?"

"I'm with you, Nancy. Through thick and thin, I've got your back."

She smiled and snuggled up against Ned. "I know. Thanks, Ned. You don't know how much that means to me." Nancy sat up to kiss Ned, which progressed into more kissing.

Ned broke off in a yawn. "Sorry. I'm wiped out. This investigating stuff is exhausting."

"Let's relax. We still have a lot of time. I'll turn on something." Nancy grabbed the remote and rejoined Ned on the couch. They settled on something, but neither lasted long. A few minutes into the movie, Nancy and Ned promptly fell asleep in each other's arms.


End file.
